Helminth diversity of nutria in Czech republic

BENOVICS, Michal, Anna KLIMEŠOVÁ, Eva NOSKOVÁ, Lucie ŠKORPÍKOVÁ, Lucie SEIDLOVÁ and Ondřej MIKULKA. Helminth diversity of nutria in Czech republic. In 27th Helminthological Days. 2023. ISBN 978-80-908308-3-7.

Basic information

• Original name: Helminth diversity of nutria in Czech republic
• Authors: BENOVICS, Michal, Anna KLIMEŠOVÁ, Eva NOSKOVÁ, Lucie ŠKORPÍKOVÁ, Lucie SEIDLOVÁ and Ondřej MIKULKA.
• Edition: 27th Helminthological Days, 2023.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Conference abstract
• Field of Study: 10600 1.6 Biological sciences
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• ISBN: 978-80-908308-3-7
• Keywords in English: Myocastor coypus; Invasive species; Helminth fauna; Zoonoses; Phylogenetic analyses

Abstract

Nutria was originally introduced to Europe from South America and kept in the fur industry. The first documented introductions date back to the second half of the 19th century, and since then, the animals escaped or were intentionally released into the wild. This semiaquatic rodent is currently a relatively well-established species in the Czech Republic; however, it still poses a threat to the native fauna, not only as the natural competitor but also by the transmission of non-indigenous parasites. Only little is known about the helminth fauna of nutria in the Czech Republic. Therefore, our research aimed to investigate the diversity of their endoparasitic helminths with a particular focus on assessing the risk posed by helminths with zoonotic potential. During 2022 we collected 41 nutria cadavers from various sources at nine localities in the Morava River basin. In order to collect the endoparasitic helminths, we examined the internal organs (i.e., intestines, liver, spleen, kidneys, hearth, and lungs) under the stereomicroscope and washed them out with the system of sieves. A total of three nematode species were collected by this method, with the highest prevalence recorded in Strongyloides myopotami (prevalence = 71%) and Trichuris myocastoris (p = 37%). Both species are host-specific parasites of nutria. The diversity of trematodes was, in comparison, lower, as only two taxa were recorded – Echinostoma sp. (p = 2%) and unidentified species of the family Psilostomatidae (p = 12%). We also recorded the presence of alveolar hydatid cysts of Echinococcus multilocularis in the liver of four nutria specimens collected close to the city of Šumperk. In the present study, we provide novel molecular data for each collected parasite species, which can be used in the future phylogenetic analyses. Our preliminary results also suggest that nutria is in the Czech Republic a carrier of helminths with zoonotic potential (i.e., E. granulosus, S. myopotami). Although it is locally a relatively new species, with its often synanthropic distribution the nutria may pose a threat to humans, so handling the animals should be taken with care.